another thought experiment

if djokovic goes on to win the next 10 grandslams in a row, i.e. 2 consecutive calendar year grandslams and 13 GS titles in a row since Wimbledon 2011, tears both ACLs and promptly retires permanently, would the Federer fans here regard him as a greater player than Federer?

If he somehow does that but doesn't win many other titles per year then no. My personal criteria is overall dominance. It's not Fed's 16 majors that make him one of the greatest players ever, for me it's the way he absolutely dominated from 2004-2007, and the whole host of records he has accrued over his career.

Sampras's 6 years as year end World #1 (consecutive too!) for instance seems to be very underrated, despite being an incredible achievement. Someone someday will equal it or surpass it, but surely not for a long time.

Then again, if Djokovic did achieve those slam results, it's unlikely he wouldn't achieve a lot more along the way.

If he somehow does that but doesn't win many other titles per year then no. My personal criteria is overall dominance. It's not Fed's 16 majors that make him one of the greatest players ever, for me it's the way he absolutely dominated from 2004-2007, and the whole host of records he has accrued over his career.

Sampras's 6 years as year end World #1 (consecutive too!) for instance seems to be very underrated, despite being an incredible achievement. Someone someday will equal it or surpass it, but surely not for a long time.

Then again, if Djokovic did achieve those slam results, it's unlikely he wouldn't achieve a lot more along the way.

Dunno is my answer basically

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but if djokovic did that he would have fully dominated the tour from 2011-2014, as long as 04-07 for fed...

It depends what you value more...absolute dominance over a 3 year period or consistent play at the top of the game for 7-8 years (with 4-5 years of basic dominance). Since he would retire with fewer slams than Federer and probably slightly lesser achievements in general, I would regard Federer as the greater player throughout history still.

but if djokovic did that he would have fully dominated the tour from 2011-2014, as long as 04-07 for fed...

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No, because you didn't specify if he dominated the entire seasons, your post was about slams (unless thats what ACLs referred to, I don't know what that means).

In just those 4 years Fed won 42 titles, hence the overall dominance. The majors are the most important tournaments but there are still only 4 a year. If it's a choice between someone dominating entire seasons or just 8 aggregated weeks, I'd choose the former.

But like I also said, if Novak was good enough to win that many majors then he'd surely win plenty more elsewhere.

It's still "dunno" for me though, I don't know how I'll feel if/when it happens.

No, because you didn't specify if he dominated the entire seasons, your post was about slams (unless thats what ACLs referred to, I don't know what that means).

In just those 4 years Fed won 42 titles, hence the overall dominance. The majors are the most important tournaments but there are still only 4 a year. If it's a choice between someone dominating entire seasons or just 8 aggregated weeks, I'd choose the former.

But like I also said, if Novak was good enough to win that many majors then he'd surely win plenty more elsewhere.

It's still "dunno" for me though, I don't know how I'll feel if/when it happens.

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alright, suppose djokovic wins 40 tournaments in these hypothetical 4 years. just for argument's sake. give me your best guess how you would analyze the situation then.

another interesting one to consider is this one: what if nadal goes on to win the next 7 GS and promptly blows both ACLs and retires? he would finish with 17 GS, but has definitely not dominated the tour like Fed did, as he would at best finish with around 150 weeks as no. 1 in the world. but he would have a calendar grand slam, and most masters titles and ridiculous clay court record... how would you analyze this situation?

No, because you didn't specify if he dominated the entire seasons, your post was about slams (unless thats what ACLs referred to, I don't know what that means).

In just those 4 years Fed won 42 titles, hence the overall dominance. The majors are the most important tournaments but there are still only 4 a year. If it's a choice between someone dominating entire seasons or just 8 aggregated weeks, I'd choose the former.

But like I also said, if Novak was good enough to win that many majors then he'd surely win plenty more elsewhere.

It's still "dunno" for me though, I don't know how I'll feel if/when it happens.

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ACL stands for Anterior Cruciate Ligament. It's a major ligament in the human knee. An ACL tear is a type of injury. ACL Wikipedia Article